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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Camp Moms

Boy oh boy, the past six days have been busy. Thursday I went to the gym after work and rode the upright bike and then did weights. It was another of my "pressed for time" workouts (I might start calling them PFT workouts for short being they happen so much lately) so I only did 20 minutes on the bike and had to drop a few sets of some exercises.

That day I made a last-minute decision to go camping. My buddy Michelle was also on her own with the kiddoes so she was on board. And at the very last minute my other mom friend Catherine was able to come for one night with her daughter. I was a bit hesitant but mostly felt like the kids are old enough that I can handle something like this with a group of friends.

We left after I got off work on Friday (so, no workout on Friday). I chose the Petaluma KOA because a) they had available sites, b) it wasn't too far to drive and c) they have lots of stuff for the kids to do like a pool, playground, petting zoo, etc. We stopped at In&Out Burger for dinner in the car on the way up. Making dinner and setting up camp seemed like too much. I had a hamburger with ketchup and mustard instead of the special sauce. And a handful of fries.

We got there and I was shocked, shocked at the size of the campsites. I'd never seen campsites so small in my life. I think the park caters more to RV campers but after switching sites we at least had a big enough space for our tent. We have a double wide tent and I took that for Michelle and her kids on one side, me and mine on the other.

Speaking of tent...by the time we started setting it up it was pretty well dark. I've never set this particular tent up on my own. I had to read the directions. Classic. But lo and behold, we did it! I wasn't so sure we'd manage it but we did. Air mattresses and sleeping bags and before long, we were snoozing.

The kids had a blast. They were in camping heaven. For us parents it was a mixture of fun and stress. Kids wired up on camping all day can wear you down. Normally that would be balanced out by some late night relaxing with a drink by the fire but that wasn't in the cards. I was too tired come the end of the day to make a fire and stay up drinking.

Our days were mostly spent lounging by the pool while the kids played. The pool itself was like ice water, they don't start heating it for a few more weeks. But there was a hot tub and I spent a good amount of time there with the kids. Time for a few pictures.

Marek and his buddy Peyton at the top, Myra working her way up

Myra showing Walker how to make bubbles

It was super chilly Friday overnight and Saturday morning. I got up and headed to the nearest Starbucks for coffee. I know, sort of cheating but I didn't care. The hot coffee hit the spot! We let the kids play at the playground and scoot around on their scooters until it was warm enough to go to the pool.

After spending all day in and out of the water we headed back to the campsite for dinner. Hot dogs and mac&cheese for the kids. The grown ups had ribs, tortillas and beans. Yummy. And I reminded myself more than a few times that being able to pull something like this off is yet another reason why maintaining a healthy weight and fitness level is so important to me. Doubtful I would have done something like this before.

And I really liked the idea of showing the kids that moms can handle stuff too. Especially my daughter, seeing that I can put up a tent in the dark, shoo a spider out of said tent and pack up the car to go home - I think that's good for a girl to see. And a boy.

Oh, a highlight of the weekend was I took the kids on a run. Well, more like a "run" really. We did a small loop around the campsite. They're always asking to go on a run with me so I figured they'd love this. Marek is ready to start training for his first 5k. Why not? He's already got one key element down, carb loading. That kid loves his carbs.

So Sunday came and lots of sad faces but the kids were also worn out. I decided to stop for a late lunch on the way home so I wouldn't have to cook.

Me and my babes

I ate plenty of too much of everything. But I didn't go too crazy. Except maybe with the Oreos. No official exercise this weekend but lots of movement and I must have burnt a ton of calories yelling at the kids to "come back, that's too far" as they scooted out of sight. Not enough though to balance out the nightly ice cream I've been eating.

See, we have this tub of chocolate chip ice cream leftover from Marek's birthday party. I know, why didn't I toss it or donate it? Because I'm imperfect and sometimes fantasize that I can handle such things. I had some Sunday night and promised myself the next time I dipped into it, the garbage disposal fate it would face.

Monday came and I had a plan to exercise after work but that got derailed. Life, you know? It just gets in the way of my plans sometimes. And in comes the ice cream. I had some and then promptly shoved the rest down the disposal. I actually felt relief that it was gone.

Today, Tuesday, I was determined to hit the gym. Another PFT workout but I headed out for a short run anyway. I think I ran around 2.5 miles or so but I'm not sure. In any case I ran for about 25 minutes before going in to do chest/triceps/core. At the beginning the weight training seemed particularly difficult but it got easier as time went on. All in all I exercised for 56 minutes and burned 413 calories according to my Polar.

Things are much the same. Exercise is pretty good, eating is fair to middling (to outright poor). My weight was 144 point something this morning and my body fat was up to 29.5%. Ugh. But, I remind myself, "keep it in perspective, Michelle," I can't always be in top shape. I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm happy with this body. I wanted to slack come gym-time this afternoon and I told myself as I walked around in my skinny cords and fitted top - "you don't get to keep a body like this by skipping your workouts and repeatedly eating from a tub of chocolate chip ice cream." Nope, it just doesn't work that way.

Of course I was happy after my workout. A nice little energy boost to carry me through the evening. The kids were getting on my last nerve tonight so I just did my best to get through. And remember less stressful days. Like this past weekend. I'll close with Myra's remark to me as we were walking back to the campsite after the pool, "Mommy, I love this town."